Needle bar



lOct. 23, 1.934. K.y R. LIEBERKNECHT 1,977,682

. NEEDLE BAR Filed sept. 7, 193sl -24 X'VHHHHHMUIUHHHUUHHNHHIHHIUHINNIUNHIWHUH f ff', @ma Y Karl Rich. Lieberhnechi Patented Oct. 23, 1934 l UNITED STATES NEEDLE BAB mi a. ueberknecm, oberlnnnm, dem assigner to Kalio Inc..Nev`r York, N. Y., a cor:

poration of New York applicati@ september 7. 193s, serial No. 688,421

In Germany rSeptember' 7, 1932 s claims., (ci. ess-n4) 'Ihis invention relates to a new and useful improvement in nat knitting machines and in particular to those designed for knitting full fashioned hosiery. l

il Specifically my invention relates to machines of this type in which the needle bar is composed of sections, one of which may be swung out of alignment with the others. Usually this section carries the needles employed in knitting the instep of a stocking and is made swingable so that the knitting o! the instep may be suspended during the knitting of the heel tabs without removing the. fabric from the instep needles.

Heretofore in sectional needle bars of this type Mi tbe length of the swingable and iixed sections have been non-adjustable which has limited the stocking which can be knit thereon to one width improvement upon such a needle bar and has for its maior object the providing of means for the Eaknitting oi insteps of any desired width without replacement of the entire needle bed, in a simple and inexpensive manner.

Another object o! the invention is to make possible the substitution of swingable sections of different widths without requiring a similar substitution of adjacent ilxed sections.

One form of the invention is described in the following specification and is disclosed diagrammatically in the drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation oi' a needle bar and adjacent parts according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view having a longer swingable section, the fixed section being adjusted to correspond;

6 Fig. 3 is a crow-section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a cross-section along the line 4 4 oi Fig. 2.

As shown in Fig. 1 the needle bar consists of a swingable section 1, and sections 2 and 3 which are not swlngable. Each of these sections consists of a face plate 4, a needle bed 4 and'a needle clamp 18. In the case of the swingable section 1 of the needle bar the face plate 4 may .position against the face plate.

a unit and a similar bed and clamp of different length substituted therefor.

The needle beds 4 and clamps 18 of the nonswingable needle bar sections 2 and 3 are lonl gitudinally adjustable upon face plate 4 so that 30 they may be properly positioned with respect needle bed section and terminates in a. threaded portion 17 of reduced diameter which engages with needle clamp 18. The length of. the shank 19 o1 bolt 7 is such that when it is screwed fully into clamp 18 to secure the needle between the bed and clamp the head 20 will still have a sliding clearance with the face of face plate 4. Each of bolts 8 pass through a slot 6 in face plate 4 as already described and are threaded into the needle bed section so that when they are tightened the needle bed section will be rigidly held in Simply by manipulating bolts 8 the needle bed sections can be slid towards or away from swingable sec- -tion 1 and fastened in the desired position.-

effected by simply replacing the needle bed of .section 1 of the needle bar with a section of different length (a longer one, for example, is shown at 9 in Fig. 2), sliding the adjacent needle bed sections outwardly a suiiieient distance to permit the swingable section to pass between them as shown in Fig.v 2, and fastening them in the proper position. The abutting surfaces of the needle bed and face plate are, of course, accurately machined so that this longitudinal adjustment will not disturb the alignment of the needles.

The manner in vwhich swingable needle. bar section 1 is mounted and locked in knitting position may be that disclosed and described in my United States Letters Patent already referred to and, consequently requires no detailed description here since it forms no essential part of the present invention. Briefly, swingable section 1 is swung on a shaft 10 mounted on the needle bar. It may be maintained in the knitting position shown by a latch 11 which is operated by hand shaft 12. Any other suitable arrangement, however, may be employed.

What I claim is:

1. In a flat, knitting machine, a needle bar assembly comprising a swingable removable needle bed section and adjacent longitudinally adjustable sections, each of which is mounted upon a rigid face plate, a longitudinal slot in said face plate, means passing through said slot and engaging with the needle bed section supported thereby to clamp said section in any adjusted position permitted by the slot.

2. In a at knitting machine, a needle bar assembly comprising a swingable removable needle bed section and adjacent longitudinally adjustable sections, means on each section for supporting a multiplicity of needles in uniformity spaced alignment, means for clamping the needles to the section, a face plate for the support of each longitudinally adjustable section havinglongitudinally elongated slots therein, means passing through one of said slots for clamping said section to said plate in any position permitted by said slot, -and means passing through 'another of said slots and engaging with said section and said needle clamping means to clamp them together but having a sliding clearance witli said face plate.

3. In aflat knitting machine, a needle bar assembly comprising a rigid face plate provided with longitudinal slots, a needle bed section supported thereupon, a needle clamp forv said needle bed section, means for clamping said clamp to said section passing through one of said slots face plate in a position permitted by said slot.

4. In a fiat knitting machine, a needle bar assembly comprising a rigid longitudinally slotted face plate, a needle bed section supported thereupon, and having a shouldered opening, a needle clamp, means passing through a slot in said face plate and engaging said needle bed section for clamping themtogether, and meanspassing through another slot in said face plate engaging with said needle bed section and needle clamp to clamp them together.

` 5. In a flat knitting machine, a needle bar assembly comprising a rigid longitudinally slotted face plate, a needle bed section supported thereupon and having a shouldered opening, a needle clamp, a shouldered bolt passing through said face plate and needle bed section into engagement with said clamp, the shoulder on said bolt alsoV engaging with the shoulder of the opening in the needle bed section and a bolt passing through another slot in said face plate and engaging with said needle bed section.

6. In a flat knitting machine a needle bar assembly comprising a needle bar, a multiplicity of needle bed central sections of different lengths, any one of which is attachable to said needle bar, an end needle bed section on said needle bar beyond either end of said central section, each of saidend sections being longitudinally slidable to permit any one of said central sections to be positioned between them, and means for maintaining -said end sections in the resulting position.

KARL RICH. LIEBERKNECHT. 

